Various dispensing systems have been developed for dispensing a flowable product by means of manual actuation. The flowable product may be any one of a variety of health and beauty aid products or any one of a variety of home, kitchen and bath cleaning products. The type of manual actuation depends primarily on the construction of the dispensing system. Aerosols and similar pressurized containers are usually manually actuated by depressing a button. Dispensing systems employing a plunger construction are usually manually actuated by (downwardly) depressing an upwardly-extending actuator stem or post, often fitted with an ergonomic actuator. Also typical of such plunger constructions is the dispensing of the product out through the ergonomic actuator. This is similar to how an aerosol mist is dispensed out through an opening in the button which is depressed. This is also similar to how a spray mist would be dispensed. A flowable product may be dispensed as a mist, a spray, a liquid, a gel or a foam. While this listing may not be exhaustive, it does include the more common flowable product forms, compositions and consistencies.
The dispensing system constructions mentioned above each involve some type of direct manual manipulation of the dispensing mechanism. Even if one simply removes a threaded cap and pours out a portion of the product, there is still direct manual manipulation of the threaded cap. An alternative way of dispensing a flowable product is to provide a pliable container for the product and apply a manual squeezing force on the outer wall of the container in order to increase the interior pressure. This increased interior pressure forces a portion of whatever product is in the container to be dispensed through a dispensing outlet. While there is direct manual manipulation of the container wall, it is the interior pressure and the flow of air and product which actuate the dispensing structure and open any internal valves.
This general type or style of squeeze dispenser may be used to dispense product as a liquid or may be used to dispense the product as a foam composition or consistency which is an aerated mixture of liquid and air. The focus of the present disclosure, as shown by the exemplary embodiment, is directed to an inverted squeeze foamer. Two (2) species of the inverted squeeze foamer are disclosed herein as exemplary embodiments. One (1) species employs a duckbill valve for managing the flow of liquid product. The other species employs a metering valve for managing the flow of liquid product.